Tag Archives: Germany

A pregnant Muslim woman who wears a headscarf was stabbed outside of a German courtroom being repeatedly stabbed by a neighbor who insisted since she was Muslim, that, by definition, means she is a terrorist. Her husband rushed to the aid of his wife and was also stabbed by the neighbor, but he was also shot in the leg by security guards who thought, since he was not blond haired, he must be the attacker. Obviously, when a Muslim woman is stabbed by a German citizen, it goes without question anyone going to her assistance must be part of the world wide al-Qaeda network. The attacker who plunged his knife into a pregnant woman 18 times, is only identified as Alex W. and is in custody. Marwa Al-Sherbini’s body was flown to Egypt where thousands marched behind her coffin shouting expressions such as: “there is no God but God and the Germans are the enemies of god.”

A German government spokesperson said if the attack was racist, the government “naturally condemns this in the strongest terms.” Although the murder has featured prominently in the Egyptian press, few German newspapers have played up the attack. In 2004, there was a media uproar when filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered by a Muslim because of his allegedly anti-Muslim films.

The good news is that representatives from the main Jewish group in Germany visited the husband who is still in the hospital. Stephan Kramer, of the Central Council of Jews, told the media: “You don’t have to be a Muslim to act against anti-Muslim behavior, and you don’t have to be a Jew to act against anti-Semitism.” Well said.

A teacher in Germany lost her appeal to the Federal Supreme Court over her right to shut down a website established by students to rate teachers in her school. Astrid Czubayko-Raiss wants the website shut down because it subjects her to embarrassing, if not humiliating, comments by students regarding her ability as a teacher. The court ruled: “the right of students to exchange opinions and communicate freely outweighs the right of the teacher suing to determine information available about her.” Of course, many colleges have formal evaluation of teachers which is conducted anonymously during the conclusion of a course. This has been in operation over forty years without too much pain to anyone.

I thought it interesting among the criteria students wished to use in evaluating teachers there was a wide range of qualities. For example, “cool and funny,” or “popular,” or “motivated,” or relaxed,” and “teaches well.” These are excellent points to identify about a teacher as long as students recognize the main criterion should be “teaches well.”

Since the end of World War II, Germany has been among the staunchest supporters of the state of Israel. German Chancellor Angela Merkel came out strongly in favor of a two state solution in the Israel-Palestine issue even though Prime Minister Netanyahu has embraced the idea. “There is no alternative to such a solution” she told Arab leaders. “We hope the new Israel government will make progress here with the Palestinian forces.” Her comments simply echoed those of President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The question is –will the government of Israel confront reality and emerge from the bunker of denial?

Merkel, like many European leaders, believes settling the Israel-Palestinian issue is the first step in creating conditions that will allow resolving issues with the Iranian government. Most Arab nations are finally willing to recognize the existence of Israel, something that Israeli leaders have wished for over the past decades. It is time for Israel to trust because only friendship and trust will lead to long term solutions.

All immigrations invariably result in cultural conflicts between those who were here and those who are new to the area. The issue of “honor killings” continues to reflect a divide between fundamentalist Muslims and the greater European population. A Kurdish-German girl threw herself into becoming part of German culture and in the process angered her parents and brother. They insisted she had to marry a man whom they had chosen and when she refused there was anger and conflict. At some point she admitted to having been pregnant and an abortion, actions which meant she could not be married to a “decent man.” Finally, her brother lured her to a field, strangled his sister and added some hard blows to get across his point because she had “sullied the family honor.”

There is no problem understanding the culture of another group, but accepting their views is another issue. As an outsider, one is shocked that only women have the capacity to “sully the family honor,” and men are never guilty of such an offense. Males can sleep around all they wish, but once a woman has sexual contact the family is now “shamed.” The real tragedy of such stories is the inability of Muslim men to recognize their hypocrisy.

The story of Europe is the continual decline in its birth rate which means in the coming years there will not be enough new babies to compensate for the death rate. The German government is offering strong incentives for women to remain home caring for babies. A woman who elects to remain with the child receives up to 67% of her net income and there are also provisions for both parents to remain home as care givers. However, the number o births in Germany dropped during the months of October and November just when it appeared the incentives might work to increase the number of births. The drop in births during those two months was about 11.7% fewer babies. Overall, it is estimated the drop for the year is about 1.7%.

Reality is if birth rates do not increase the alternative is to increase immigration since a modern nation needs bodies in order to fuel its economic growth. Who knows, will there come a time in the future when Americans will be headed to Europe to take jobs created by the decline in the birth rate.

A perennial complaint of those who seek to create the image that Muslims are terrorists is to cite some religious figure who urges violence toward those in the west. The German government has decided to open a private institute for the education of Muslim imams in order to create a new generation of Muslim leaders who have an intellectual foundation which is centered not only in the Muslim community but in broader issues of society. “We want to educate German-speaking imams who are anchored in society and have a perfect command of the language. “If such imams emerge there will be less need for imams from other countries who lack knowledge of either German or European societies and thus communicate ignorance about the West.

The new institute has already reached out to local churches and other groups in order to create a sense they wish to center Muslims in the community rather than having them come across as a foreign group. Naturally, local neo-Nazis have threatened to demonstrate against such an institution.

A year ago, news about a cashier who may have stolen $1.66 would have elicited a yawn at best, and most probably would have never appeared anywhere in print. But, we are now in a recession and for the first time in decades, the “little woman” has become the hero and the businessman has become the villain. Barbara E has become a folk hero and members of parliament have denounced the firing of the 51 year old woman who apparently took about $1.66 worth of bottle deposit slips. The vice president of Germany’s parliament, Wolfgang Thierse, said the firing was “barbaric” and he, in turn, was attacked by the legal profession for insulting the judiciary system. Barabara, who goes by the name of Emmely has been seized upon by the media who are writing countless stories as to why a woman who took $1.66 is in the news while men and women who stole millions go unpunished. The woman was turned in by a fellow worker and so far there is no concrete evidence she ever took anything.

The fact anyone is interested simply reflects the standing of members of the financial world in the eyes of their fellow countrymen. People rush to shake her hand because they see in this woman their own anger at losing thousands in their savings or being fired when their employer gives up. We need the “common woman” at this point in time because we are both in pain and in anger at the unseen forces who have ruined our lives.

Among the disasters of the Bush invasion of Iraq was the resulting prejudice against Christians in that nation which has resulted in the flight of over two-thirds of the prewar population. Ironically, under the Saddam Hussein regime, Christians enjoyed freedom of religion and protection against persecution. Saddam disliked and feared fundamentalist Muslim leaders so he allowed Christians to live in peace. The American invasion resulted in a rise to power of Muslim fundamentalist and an unleashing of violence against Christians. Most have fled although few have ben welcomed in the United States. The European Union is granting refuge to over 10,000 Iraqi Christians and at least one fourth will be granted asylum in Germany.

Most of the historic Chaldean Christians trace there ancestry back over a thousand years and predate the arrival of the Muslim religion. The blundering Bush invasion which did not even recognize the precarious position of Iraq Christians has resulted in their need to flee from their homes and seek safety elsewhere. Does President Bush ever regret what he did to the Christians of Iraq?

In the aftermath of World War II, the German population was decimated by huge losses of men during the war and when an economic boom took off, there was need to bring in “guest workers.” Most of the original guest workers came from Turkey and for the first time in German history there was need to deal with integration of people who had a different religion and many differing cultural values and behaviors. According to a report by the Institute for Population and Development the integration of descendants of those guest workers still has not worked. The German government now offers programs in language, culture, and values to newcomers but few of the original descendants attend those classes. The report describes how many of the original immigrant group still lack basic German language skills as well as the education to obtain high tech jobs.

There is something rather strange about people who lived in Germany for half a century and supposedly their children attended schools and learned German and about the culture of their new land. Didn’t schools develop multicultural programs to assist these children? It is one thing for an immigrant to struggle with language issues, it is another when children attend school and are unable to become proficient in language and work skills. Something is rotten in the state of Germany.

A crowd gathered in the city of Duisburg in order to express their opposition to the Israel invasion of Gaza and the deaths of people. On their march, some of the members of the demonstration noticed an Israel flag that was hanging from a window, apparently in support of the government of Israel. The crowd began shouting and German police rushed into the building and then broke down the door of the apartment in order to remove the flag. The student is a strong supporter of Israel and due to the anger of Muslims in Duisburg a newspaper can not even mention the student’s name because of fear he will be attacked by those who do not like Israel.

Videos later confirmed the mob cheered actions of the German police. Actually, the student was down stairs watching the parade in order to document any anti-semitic actions and when the demonstration passed the apartment building he approached a police officer to ask why his apartment door had been broken. The police told him to stay away from the window and be careful.

Is this modern Germany where a citizen does not have the right to express an opinion? Doe Muslims in Germany have the right to intimidate those who oppose their views? After all, this is not the first time Muslims in Europe have attempted to intimidate those who express views they don’t like whether it be words or cartoons. People have a right to condemn the Israel policies in Gaza. They also have a right to support them.